The Fine Quality of Perfected Patience
by ilovetvalot
Summary: He wasn't her boyfriend, but he was her lover. Drabblish. Special thanks to amelia 17!


_**Author's Note:**_

_**It is our pleasure to announce the winners in the first 2010 Profiler's Choice Criminal Minds Awards on ! All winners and winning fics were first nominated by their peers then chosen in final ballot by 179 voters.**_

_**We are thrilled with the outpouring of support that we received during this three month process from all the fellow authors/readers for this first-ever fanfic. net-based awards program! When we first discussed this idea, we were hopeful for at least fifty voters. As you can see, our expectations were more than just exceeded. We thank each and every one of you for making these awards successful. Without you, this could not have happened. Please visit "Chit Chat on Author's Corner" forum to view the winners thread! Congrats to all our nominees and winners! Working with each of you guys has been a pleasure.**_

_**As you may or may not know, Tonnie and I intend to make this an annual event and we're already looking forward to next year - after we recuperate, that is.**_

_**In other news, December 25th is right around the corner. Everyone that signed up for the CM Christmas Fic Exchange, please remember your stories. We want this to be a WONDERFUL gift experience for all involved. If you have any questions, feel free to pm either myself (ilovetvalot) or tonnie2001969.**_

_**Finally, if any of you have any idea for issues/activities that you'd like to see "Chit Chat on Author's Corner" forum tackle in the form of discussion threads and/or challenges, please let us know. We want to bring you all some really fun threads in the New Year!**_

_**As always, thank you to every reader, reviewer, favoriter, and alerter that enjoys our stories. Hearing from each of you means a great deal. Now, on with our story!**_

_*****Special thanks to amelia_17 at livejournal for the opportunity to use her one sentence fics as prompts. Without you, this wouldn't have happened*****_

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**The Fine Quality of Perfected Patience**

He wasn't her boyfriend, but he was her lover.

He was too old to be called by the overused label anyway, wasn't he? After all, the word boy hadn't applied to him for a few decades now, and he'd be damned if he settled for simple freaking friendship.

He tried to convince himself to be satisfied with the status quo. After all, how many men his age could say they were sharing their bed with a beautiful woman some fifteen years younger than himself?

Not too damned many, he thought smugly, watching her move across the bullpen, her hips swaying with an unconscious feminine rhythm she'd deny she had. But then, he knew Emily Prentiss wasn't nearly as confident as others believed her to be. One of her most attractive qualities was that she either didn't realize or didn't believe how gorgeous she was, inside and out.

At heart, she was still the confused teenager searching for the approval of others, never believing she was worthy of love.

Oh, she'd deny that, too. She allowed very few to see that vulnerable side of her character. Always guarded, she hid behind a hard shell designed to protect her after a childhood filled with indifference and pain. And for that, he could happily stranger the elder Prentisses who claimed the unearned title of parents.

They'd made the job of seducing Emily into falling in love with him infinitely harder.

Never a quitter, he'd began his wooing slowly. A dinner here, a play there...always as friends. Slowly, she'd lowered the well fortified shields she'd spent a lifetime erecting, allowing their friendship to deepen and solidify. Until one night when a hellish case had brought two lonely friends together.

One kiss of comfort had turned into two. Then came a moment's pause to stare intensely into each other's eyes, each giving the other time to run. Then, as if by magic or at least mutual agreement, their clothes had melted away in a nameless hotel room in Vermont.

Their first embrace had been fiery and fast, full of bottled passion they'd both spent too long ignoring. Their second had been slower and sweeter, each taking time to savor the taste and feel of the other person. After that, he'd been lost, relegating himself to being in love with a woman he wasn't sure he'd ever be able to persuade into trusting him enough to give him her heart.

Oh, she trusted him with her body. She allowed him to hold her almost every night. But her heart, she guarded with the ferocity of a rabid dog. No matter how hard he tried to break through her walls, she simply reinforced the barrier, refusing to accept the depth of his devotion to her. In her eyes, it was transient. It had been for the other women he'd care for. It had been from her own parents.

His track record combined with her tumultuous past created an almost insurmountable hurdle on the pathway to their hopeful future.

Believing in him...in them...seemed to be a risk she wasn't prepared to take. Because failure hurt. And Emily had decided a long time ago that if success wasn't an assurance, the danger wasn't worth it. She'd learned long before he'd ever arrived on the scene not to gamble with her heart.

He hadn't gotten to where he was in life by giving up, though. If there was one thing the long years had taught him, it was the fine quality of patience.

He could wait her out.

Because he didn't just want to be Emily Prentiss' lover. Oh, no. He wanted to be her love.

_**Finis**_


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